The Secret Realm of Time, His and Her Life Through the Changes

The physical education class originally scheduled for this afternoon had to be rescheduled to Sunday afternoon because the instructor was unfortunately injured while performing out of town. This last-minute change gave the students some unexpected free time after lunch.

The students eating in the cafeteria were excited about the sudden afternoon holiday, gathering in small groups to discuss what fun "activities" they could find that afternoon.

Wang Jie and Jian Zheng were going to attend a social event in the afternoon, and Jian Zheng ran over to meet up with Wang Jie.

Just as the two of them finished getting their food and sat down, Zhou Yanruo sat down opposite them with her lunchbox.

"Teacher Wang," Zhou Yanruo greeted Wang Jie.

"Mm," Wang Jie replied with a slight smile.

"Oh, it's Meishan!" Jian Zheng exclaimed in surprise and exaggerated.

"What did you say?" Zhou Yanruo asked, looking completely bewildered.

"Zhou Meishan, oh, that is, beautiful inside and out, Zhou Yanruo, abbreviated as Zhou Meishan."

Wang Jie burst out laughing, almost spitting out the rice grains in his mouth. He quickly covered his mouth, embarrassed by his lapse in composure.

"Ugh, what is all this nonsense?" Zhou Yanruo said angrily.

After the incident where Grandpa was sick and taken to the hospital, Wang Jie, Jian Zheng, and Zhou Yanruo became quite familiar with each other.

"I don't have classes this afternoon, and my classmates want to go to the movies, but I don't want to go with them," Zhou Yanruo said hesitantly. "I don't want to go home so early either. What are your plans for this afternoon? Could you take me with you?"

Jian Zheng, quick to speak, immediately replied, "Wang Jie and I are going to a social event this afternoon. Can we bring you along? Right, Wang Jie?"

He only sought Wang Jie's opinion after he had already agreed to Zhou Yanruo's request.

Zhou Yanruo also looked at Wang Jie and said, "Teacher Wang, is that alright?"

"alright."

"Eat quickly, eat quickly. We should go." Jian Zheng said excitedly.

"Where are we going?" Zhou Yanruo asked while shoveling rice into her mouth.

Wang Jie: "We're going to a social event this afternoon, a book charity sale, not far from here. I don't know if you'd be interested."

"I'm done eating, let's go."

The three of them walked out of the cafeteria and came to the bicycle shed on the west side of the teaching building.

Jian Zheng found his bicycle, looked at Wang Jie who was pushing it, and said, "There are only two bikes, how is she going to get there?"

“I’ll take the bus myself. Tell me the address,” Zhou Yanruo called out to them from outside the bicycle shed.

Jian Zheng pushed his car out, approached Wang Jie, and muttered to himself, "It seems there's no direct bus. What should we do?"

Wang Jie: "If only there were shared bikes, we wouldn't have to worry about not having a bike to ride."

"What is that? What kind of bicycle?" Jian Zheng didn't hear clearly what Wang Jie meant by "what kind of bicycle" and asked again.

"fine."

Wang Jie said to Zhou Yanruo, "There's no direct bus from here, so we'll ride our bikes. Or, you can sit on the back of Jian Zheng's bike and he can give you a ride."

"No, who wants to ride in his car? Teacher Wang, please take me." Zhou Yanruo rolled her eyes at Jian Zheng, walked directly to Wang Jie's bicycle, and prepared to get on.

"Tch, so girls can be more interested in romance than friendship too." Jian Zheng blurted out, speaking nonsense without any restraint.

"Who is your friend? It's true that Teacher Wang is handsome, but you are a fake friend."

"You two can just keep arguing here, are you coming or not?"

Wang Jie shook his head helplessly; these two always brought him up when they argued.

Wang Jie and Jian Zheng were riding bicycles, with Zhou Yanruo sitting on the back of Wang Jie's bicycle.

Zhou Yanruo sat in the back seat and sang "Dang," the theme song of the hit TV series "Princess Pearl."

Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

When the mountain peaks have no sharp edges

When the river stops flowing

When time stands still, day and night are indistinguishable

When heaven and earth and all things turn into nothingness

I still can't break up with you.

I can't break up with you

Your gentleness is my greatest wish in this life.

She held onto the back seat with one hand, and tapped the other hand above her head, her legs crossed and bobbing in rhythm.

Jian Zheng also joined in the singing.

Wang Jie laughed and pedaled hard on the bicycle. The wheel ran over a small stone, and the bicycle became unstable and bounced up. Wang Jie quickly twisted the handlebars to regain his balance.

Zhou Yanruo, who was sitting in the back seat, was singing enthusiastically with her legs crossed when the car suddenly swerved, startling her so much that she sang off-key with a scream and grabbed Teacher Wang's waist with both hands.

Wang Jie blushed.

This prompted Jian Zheng to burst into loud laughter.

……

Not far from their school lies a tranquil oasis—a small, free-admission park. This park is more than just a green haven; it's also a book market brimming with cultural atmosphere. Though small in size, it attracts many book lovers.

On weekends or during leisure time, the book market is always bustling with activity. The stalls are filled with all kinds of books, from classic literature to modern novels, from rare ancient books to popular comics, with such a wide variety that it can satisfy almost every reader's needs.

What's even more remarkable is that you can also find some out-of-print books here. These rare books are undoubtedly a valuable treasure for bookworms.

In this book market, people stroll between stalls, some discussing in hushed tones, others browsing intently. Children, accompanied by their parents, learn how to choose a good book; young people seek solace or inspiration for their writing; while the elderly reminisce about the past, searching for memories of bygone eras.

Several classmates, together with the book market, jointly planned a charity book sale. The purpose of this event was to sell the donated books, and the funds raised would be used to purchase computers for children in remote and impoverished areas, further supporting the construction of computer labs in local schools.

The event was initiated by Wang Jie and Jian Zheng. It began when Wang Jie was invited to tutor students in mountainous areas outside the city who were about to take the high school entrance exam. There, he witnessed the children studying diligently in simple classrooms. Their thirst for scientific knowledge, their eagerness, and their curious eyes filled with curiosity about the unknown deeply moved Wang Jie.

Deeply moved, Wang Jie decided to help these children within his own power, and he shared this idea with Jian Zheng. Jian Zheng was equally moved, and the two hit it off immediately. Together, they planned this book sale, hoping that through their efforts, they could bring more learning opportunities and possibilities for growth to children who yearn for knowledge.

Through the lobbying efforts of "social activist" Jian Zheng, more and more people joined them, including his classmates, people from the community who wanted to contribute to charity, and even some businesses.

This public welfare activity has been held for two consecutive years and has taken shape this year. They have now helped more than 20 schools in impoverished counties build computer classrooms, helped build "Hope Primary Schools" in remote areas, and helped enterprises that have donated love to connect with impoverished counties and towns for one-on-one assistance.

When Wang Jie first learned about these things, he was also proud of "the Wang Jie of the past." This year, he was the one organizing and hosting the event, and he couldn't let "the Wang Jie of the past" down. He wanted to finish the work that Wang Jie had failed to complete.

Sometimes he would wonder, now that he had come here and become Wang Jie, where had the "former Wang Jie" gone? Could it be...? Every time he thought of this, he dared not continue thinking about it.

When the three of them arrived at the book market, it was one of the busiest times of day, and the small area felt somewhat crowded.

Despite the large crowd, it wasn't noisy at all, being a "book market." People quietly browsed the books at the various stalls, and when a purchase was made, the conversation was always quiet. Many of the visitors were parents with their children during the summer vacation, hoping to cultivate their children's love of books and reading habits.

Wang Jie flipped through the donated books, and several large boxes of unopened books caught his attention. He opened the boxes and found neatly stacked, brand-new books. He picked one up.

"This was brought over this morning. It was donated by Yuxin Bookstore. There are several large boxes. They said it was because a new author's book was printed in excess and couldn't be sold. So, in a fit of anger, they donated it."

Jian Zheng saw Wang Jie pick up the book from the box and said to him.

"Originally, I said no, books that don't sell well won't sell well here either, and they'll just take up space. Who would have thought that the author, who came with the truck, would get anxious when he heard me say that, and said that if no one reads them, they should be donated to the mountainous areas, burned for cooking and heating."

Jian Zheng vividly recounted the whole story.

“No, I can’t do that. I sympathize with the author. How can we intellectuals burn books? I can only keep them.” Jian Zheng said, picking up a book from the box and flipping through it.